Binani Cement Says Committed to Paying Taxes

Binani Cement on Saturday said that it is committed to making payment of the liability and is not in any manner trying to default.

The company was questioned by the Supreme Court the previous day for not paying sales tax.

In a statement issued by R S Joshi, president (corporate affairs), the company said it is only seeking instalments for making the payment as provided under law.

"The Company is committed towards making payment of the liability and is not in any manner trying to default the same but is only seeking instalments as provided under the law," the statement said.

"For a company that has already accepted the liability and has made payments as per the High Court order, increased pressure by the government would make the company operation unviable giving the cost of raw material increase and low off take of cement in the current market," it noted.

"As Binani Cement invested Rs 633 crore, the company was entitled for Eligible Fixed Capital Investment. Binani Cement had availed deferment of Rs 457 crore by foreclosing the scheme on August 31, 2011 against eligibility of Rs 488 crore. However, only Rs 280 crore was approved by the State Level Screening Committee, thus deferment availed was of Rs 177 crore which had to be paid to the government."

The company said it started making payments towards the liability right from March 2013 every month and had paid about Rs 20 crore during the pendency of the application for instalments before the Sales Tax Department.